The Legend of The “Berta“
“On the exterior wall of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, on Via de’ Cerretani, there is a marble woman’s head embedded in the masonry. Florentines call her ‘La Berta.’
There are two primary versions that attempt to explain the origin and meaning of this marble figure.
The First Version: The Curse of the Sorcerer The first, more dramatic version recounts an episode during the execution of Cecco d’Ascoli, the astronomer and poet burned at the stake for heresy and witchcraft. As he was being led to his death past the church, the condemned man desperately begged the crowd and the guards for a sip of water. At the time, there was a widespread folk superstition that if a sorcerer were hydrated before execution, they could miraculously survive the flames.
It was at this critical moment that La Berta, a woman presumably leaning out of a window or an opening in the church, shouted at the top of her lungs to the crowd and the executioners: “Do not give him water! If he drinks, he will not burn!”, effectively sealing the man’s fate. Feeling betrayed and desperate, Cecco d’Ascoli solemnly cursed her, saying: “And you shall never remove your head from there!” According to the legend, from that day forward, the woman’s head remained petrified on the wall as an eternal warning.
The Second Version: The Generous Greengrocer In the second version, Berta is identified as a “cavolaia” (a historical Florentine term for a greengrocer or vegetable vendor). It is said that this woman, having no direct heirs, decided to use her wealth for a public service. At her own expense, she had a bell installed on the church. Its tolling served as a signal for farmers in the fields, allowing them to hurry back so as not to ‘find themselves at the gates with the stones’—a local expression meaning to arrive just as the city gates were being bolted for the night. The marble head was thus placed on the wall in honor and memory of Berta’s generosity.
